Cmf 


Duke   University   Libraries 

Sufferings  of  t 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #926 


Ho,  46, 

SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  LOST, 


HY    REV     J.    H.    MARTIN.    KNOXVILLE.    TE2CN. 


1 1  Ifl  a  prominent  and  awfully  solemn  doctrine  of  Scripture, 
that  the  wicked  shall  undergo  punishment  in  the  world  to  come. 
Their  Sufferings  will  be  exceedingly  dreadful.  We«are  warned 
to  flee  from  them.  I  propose  to  unfold,  in  several  particulars, 
the  sources  of  that  misery  which  the  lost  shall  endure  in  eter- 
nity. 

1.  They  will  be  deprived  of  all  the  pleasures  and  on  am  of 
happiness  which  they  possessed   and  enjoyed  in  this  world. 
Notwithstanding  the  blight  and  curse  of  sin  are  upon  all  ter- 
restial  scenes  and  objects,  and  the  earth  is  far  from  being  that 
lovely  paradise  in  which  our  first  parents  had  their  abode,  vet 
this  world  is  still  a  pleasant  theatre  of  existence,    abounding 
with  varied  beauties,  charm*,    and   delights.     Its   scenery   is 
•diversified,  magnificent,  inexpressibly  lovely  and  glorious.*    It 
is  daily  lighted  up  with  the  rays  of  the  sun,  which  are  poured 
forth  in  a  living  flood,  causing  the  earth    to   shine  with  hi.^ 
glory.     To  the    eye  are  revealed  its  mountains,  hills,  valleys, 
aud  Various  inequalities  of  surface:  its  trees,  flowers. 
meadows,  cultivated   fields  and    virgin  forests;   its  springe, 
fountains,  brooks,  rivers,  lakes,  seas,  and  oceans  ;  its  prevailing 
colour  of  green,  and  other  tints  and  hues;  its  various  tribes  of 
animals,  the  lordly  race  of  man,  and  the  works  of  art  executed 
by  his  hand.     Such  are  the  visible   decorations,  charms,  and 
glories  of  earth,  which  perpetually  meet  and  please  the  eye, 
and  afford  enjoyment  to  the  soul  of  man.     His  ear  is  regaled 
with  sounds  of  melody  ;  his  palate  is  gratified  with,  agreeable 
food  and  drink ;  fragrant  odors  excite  sensations  of  delight 
through  the  organ  of  smelling. 

As  asocial  being,  he  derives  happiness  from  the  company 
and  conversation  of  others.  He  enjoys  the  endearments  of 
home,  the  sweet  felicities  of  the  domestic  circle,  the  pleasures 
of  friendship,  and  the  delights  of  intercourse  with  the  world  at   • 


laf ge.  Ay  a  being  formed  for  activity,  and  endowed  with 
various  propensities  vvhicli  seek  gratification  in  their  appro- 
priate lie  finds  pleasure  in  the  exercise  of  his  powers, 
and  in  the  pursuit  and  accomplishment  of  ends  which  he 
esteems  profitable,  desirable,  and  worthy  of  ljis -endeavours. 
We  see  men  busily  engaged  in  a  hundred  different  employ- 
ments, mechanical,  agricultural,  commercial,  professional, 
political,- literary,  and  scientific.  Many  seek,  and  some  have 
acquired  large  wealth.  The  rich  man  surveys,  with  deep 
gratification,  his  vast  landed  estate  or  extensive  city  property, 
and  loves  to  count  over  his  specie,  bank  notes,  bonds, 
mortgages,  and  other  evidences  of  value.  These  things  area 
main  source  of  his  happiness.  The  pleasure-seeker  is  happy 
in  the  midst  of  amusement,  scenes  of  mirth,  fashionable  dis- 
play and  excitement,  wherever  attractive  novelties  are  to  be 
witnessed.  The  epicure  is  devoted  to  the  pleasures  of  the  table ; 
the  wine-bibber  to  his  cups;  the  gamester  to  his  cards;  the 
sportsman  to  the  race  course,  Some  men  are  happy  only  in 
political  life,  others  while  engaged  in  travel,  adventure, 
literary  labors,  or  scientific  researches  and  experiments. 
These  Various  pleasures  and  excitements  not  only  render  this 
life  tolerable,  notwithstanding  its  cares,  troubles,  sorrows, 
and  vexations,  but  cause  men  to  love  it  and  cleave  to  it  with 
a  strong,  tenacious  grasp.  Some  even  go  so  far  as  to  say  that, 
if  it  were  left  to  them  what  to  choose,  they  would  be  willing 
to  live  here  forever,  desiring  no  other  and  no  better  world 
than  this. 

Now  what  a  punishment,  what  a  source  of  pain  and  anguish 
what  a  very  Hell  must  it  be  to  ungodly  and  worldly  persons 
to  be  separated  by  death  from  this  cherished  place  of  abode, 
and  suddenly  deprived  of  all  their  accustomed  pleasures  and 
gratifications !  When  they  go  hence,  this  effect  takes  place, 
and  the  utter  loss  of  all  earthly  thing's  and  enjoyments  becomes 
a  part  of  their  experience  and  source  of  their  misery.  In 
death  the  eyes  of  the  wicked  are  closed  forever  to  the  pleasant 
light  of  the  sun,  the  blue  sky  and  green  earth,  and  all  the 
b?autiful,  familiar,  and  endeared  scenes  and  objects  of  this  life. 
T hev  shall  never  be  seen  again.  No  sweet  sounds  will  greet 
the  ear,  or  pleasant  odors  excite  the  olfactory  nerves.  Dives, 
alothed  in   purple   and   fine  linen,    and   accustomed   to   fare 


sumptuously  every  da 

table  is  spread,  no  bread  and  wine  arc  pr< 

want  are  substituted  for  feasting  and  plenty.  The  drunkard 
is  cut  otb  from  his  bowl,  the  gamester  from  his  cards,  the 
lover  of  amusements  from  his  accustomed  places  of  resort. 
Social  joys  ar.d  friendship  ;  are  ended.  The  man  of  tra 
business,  of  politics,  ha-  nothing  to  do-  The  occupation  of 
the  farmer,  merchant,  physician,  lawyer,  student,  author,  *nd 
statesman  is  gone.  The  rich  man  is  stripped  ofhisall,  and  pen- 
.    All  light,  all  beauty,  all  friendship  and  II  busi- 

ness, all  wealth,  pleasure,  thine,  hoi,  thirty 

that  ministered  to  the  sinner's  comfort  and  happiness  in  this 
world,  is  absent  from  him  in  the  state  to  which  1 
immediately  after  death.     As  in  oriental  prime 

minister  and  favorite  of  the  king,  who  i 

greatn  fly    deprived  of  all    his  offices,    honors, 

power,  riches,  and  felicity,  degraded  tOthe  very  lowest  condi- 
tion, and  imprisoned  in  a  dark,  filth- 
dungeon.     So  the  soul  thai  will  excha 
on  earth,   with  its  manifold  delights,   for  a  state  of  imp 
mem.  darkness,  and  utter  destitution  of  all  thi 

2.  There  will  not  only  be  a  deprivation  of  former 
but  the  infliction  of  positive  pain.     Those  who  ai 
sensibly  experience  the  wrathofGod,  both  in  theii 
bodies.     They  shall  be  cast  into  a  place  exceedingly  d. 
and  distressing.     This  knominatcd  Hell,      f 

know  where  it  i>  located,  but  it  is  described  i'1  Scriptoi 
dismal  scene  of  darkne-s,   fire,  and  torment.     Jt  i 
of  punishment  for  fallen  angels  and  losf  men,  and  is  generally 
represented  in  ti  sea  of  flame,  a  burn- 

ing lake.     Dives  said,   "I  am  tormented  in  i1 
the  day  of  judgment  '  ill  say  t-j  them  on  his  left  hand, 

te Depart  from  me;  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fit 
for  the  devil  and  hi-,  angels.  ,%  And  whosoever  wa 
written  in  the  book  of  life  ifas  east  into  the  lake  "t  tire." 

~\Ye  are  taught  that  the  body  shall  soul. 

Christ  said  :    "Fear  him,  who   is   able  to   <!•  h  soul 

and  body  in  bell."     Now  of  all   natural  r  inflicting 

physical  pain;  fire  is  the  most  powerful  and  penetratii 
mav  be  sai  I  that  fire  would  coon  consume  the  ! 


"  agd 


an  end  to  its  capacity  of  suffering.  But  it  ie  possible  thai 
God  may  so  change  it,  that,  like  the  burning  bueh,  it  will  be 
forever  in  the  flames  without  being  consumed.  There  is  a 
wood  called  asbestos  which  possesses  this  property  of  resist- 
ance to  lire  and  heat.  However  much  it  may  be  burned,  it 
is  not  reduced  to  ashes  and  destroyed.  In  like  manner  the 
body  may  be  rendered  incapable  of  destruction  by  fire,  while 
its  sensibility  to  pain  continues  lively  and  undiminished. 

3.  As  the* soul  is  spirit,  and  not  matter,  so  its  sufferings 
will  arise  from  mental,  antl  not  physical  sources.  One  of 
these  will  undoubtedly  be  memory.  Abraham  said  to  Dives, 
"Son,  remember,"  regarding  him  as  still  retaining  this  in- 
tellectual faculty  in  his  state  of  misery,  and  capable  of  re- 
collecting the  scenes,  incidents,  and  events  of  his  former  life 
on  earth.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  world  to 
come  the  action  of  memory  will  be  quickened  and  intensified, 
and  that  its  operations  will  be  amazingly  swift.  Instances 
have  occurred  of  men,  who  supposed  themselves  to  be  drown- 
ing, but  were  rescued  before  life  became  extinct.  They  relate 
that,  in  the  space  of  a  few  moments,  their  whole  past  life  wa§ 
brought  vividly  in  review  before  the  mind.  They  remembered 
every  thing,  even  facts  and  incidents  that  seemingly  had 
beenlong  forgotten.  Memory,  under  the  power  of  excitement, 
revivified  all  past  impressions  and  crowded  the  recollections 
of  a  life-time  into  the  space  of  a  few  seconds.  A  story  is  told 
of  a  woman  in  Germany,  who,  in  a  time  of  sickness  and 
mental  derangement,  repeated  whole  pages  of  Hebrew, 
Greek,  and  Latin.  She  was  uneducated,. and  the  fact  was  a 
mystery.  It  was  found  on  inquiry,  that  when  a  little  girl  she 
had  been  a  servant  in  the  family  of  a  learned  clergyman,  who 
was  in  the  habit  of  walking  in  his  room  and  reading  aloud  in 
those  languages.  While  engaged  in  household  duties,  she 
Lad  heard  him  reading,  and  the  words  unconsciously  to  her 
and  without  understanding  their  meaning,  had  imprinted 
themselves  indelibly  on  her  mind.  Memory,  under  the 
stimulus  of  disease,  recalled  and  reproduced  them.  Such 
facts  seem  to  show  that  nothing,  once  learned,  -is  ever  for- 

fotten.     An  impression  once  made  is  never  effaced.     This 
eing  so,  what  an   ingredient   will   not  memory   be  in   the 
misery  of  lost  souls  hereafter,    How  painful  and  distressing 


the  recollections  of  a  life  time  spent  in  ungodliness,  ingratitude, 

and  sin  ;  in  the  abuse  of  divine  mercies,  the  transgression  of 
God's  law,  the  neglect  of  a  crucified  Saviour,  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  means  and  opportunities  of  securing  divine  favor  and 
eternal  life.  Kvcry  soul  in  that  world  will  remember  its  own 
sins  committed  in  the  body.  It  will  bitterly  lament  and  be- 
wail both  its  iniquities,  and  its  folly  in  neglecting,  by  timely 
repentance,  faith  and  prayer,  to  obtain  pardon  and  redemp- 
tion. Its  language  of  self-reproach  and  sorrow  will  be,  "  The 
harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  I  am  not  saved. 
I  received  abundant  and  oft-repeated  instruction,  warning, 
invitation,  and  entreaty  with  reference  to  my  eternal  happi- 
ness. I  enjoyed  long  and  ample  opportunities  of  being  saved, 
but  J  wickedly,  foolishly,  nfadly  neglected  them  ajl.  And 
now  I  am  loet,  lost,  lo 

4.  Another  element  of  suffering  hereafter  will  be,  remorse 
of  conscience.  Conscience  is  the  self-knowing  faculty  in  man. 
It  is  self-accusing,  self-condemning  on  account  of  ?in>s  com- 
mitted, while  it  applauds  and  justifies  in  view  of  actions  that 
are  lawful  and  right.  Its  accusations  and  reproaches  are 
often  exceedingly  painful  and  distressing,  even  in  this  world. 
Remorse  is  compunction  of  conscience  for  a  crime  committed: 
keen  pain  or  anguish  excited  by  a  sense  of  guilt.  Judas  was 
smitten  with  pangs  of  remorse  and  horror  after  his  betrayal 
of  Jesus,  under  the  inlluence  of  which  he  went  and  hanged 
himself. 

Conscience  often  causes  those  who  have  been  guilty  of  crime 
to  have  frightful  visions  and  dreams,  and  afflicts  them  with 
imaginary  terrors  of  a  most  painful  description.  Like  a  man 
in  a  state  of  delirium  tremens,  they  see  themselves  surround- 
ed with  serpents,  fiends,  and  all  kinds  of  monsters  seeking  to 
torment  and  destroy  them.  The  murderer  fancies  that  he 
sees  the  ghost  of  his  slain  victim,  which  is  the  most  awful, 
dreadful  sight  he  can  behold.  Shakspeare  depicts  Macbeth, 
the  murderer  of  Duncan,  King  of  Scotland,  and  of  his  general 
Banquo,  as  the  subject  of  these  remorseful  pangs  and  terrible 
visions.  When  about  to  occupy  a  seat  with  his  wife  and 
certain  noblemen  at  an  evening  banquet,  he  sees  the  ghost  of 
Banquo  enter  the  room,  aud  sit  down  in  the  vacant  chair 
designed  for  him-     He  starts  back  with  horror,  exclaiming  : 


"Thou  causfc  not  say.  J  did  it:  never  shake 

Thy  gory  locks  at  me." 

He  represents hia  wife,  Lady  Macbeth,  who  had  shared  in 
his  deeds  of  crime,  as  also  suffering  under  a  sense  of  guilt,  and 
betraying  her  excitement  and  remorse  in  her  sleep. 

The  workings  ot  conscience  are  seen  in  Herod,  who,  to 
gratify  the  malice  ot  his  wicked  and  unlawful  wife,  had  cut 
off  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist.  When  he  heard  of  the 
miracles  and  works  ot  Christ,  he  said,  "  It  is  John,  whom  J 
beheaded:  he  is  risen  from  the  dead."  On  this  passage  a 
Commentator  remarks:  "A  guilty  conscience  needs  no  ac- 
cuser. Herod  charge-;  himself  with  the  murder  of  John,  and 
the  terror  of  it  made  h'm  imagine  that  Christ  was  John. 
He  feared  John  while  he  lived,  and  fears  him  ten  times  more 
when  he  is  dead.  One  aught  as  well  be  haunted  with  ghosts 
and  furies,  as  with  the  Ifrorrors  of  an  accusing  conscience. 

Reader,  having  a  conff  ience,  you  carry  what  is  capable  of 
becoming  a  hell  to  you,  in  your  own  bosom.  For  if  you  die 
with  your  sins  unpardoned  and  unwashed  away  in  the  blood 
of  Christ,  you  shall  suffer  the  stings  and  reproaches  of  a  guilty 
conscience  in  the  world  to  come.  Remorse,  preying  upon  the 
soul,  will  be  the  torture  of  the  worm  that  never  dies. .  0,  as 
you  desire  inward  peace  and  eternal  happiness,  strive  to  have 
an  undehled  and  approving  conscience.  Seek  to  have  it 
purged  from  past  sins  and  guilt  by  the  cleansing  blood  of 
Christ,  and  labour  to  keep  it  clean  in  time  to  come.  Paul 
said,  "Herein  do  1  exercise  myself,  to  have  always  a  con- 
science void  of  offence  toward  God,  and  toward  men."  Let 
conscience  be  enlightened  and  governed  by  the  Word  of  God, 
and  then  you  may  say.: 

"  What  conscience  dictates  to  be  done. 

Or  warns  me  not  to  do, 
This  teach  me  more  than  hell  to  shun, 

That  more  than  heaven  pursue." 

5.  The  misery  of  those  in  a  lost  state  will  arise  from  earnest 
and  unallayed  desires.  Dives  is  represented  as  having  an 
intense,  feverish  thirst  for  writer,  but  not  a  drop  of  it  could  he 


procure.  Doubtless  other  kinds  of  good*  and  f  ojo}  ftietft  such 
as  men  relished  on  earth,  will  Be  ardently  craved,  but'  shall 
not  be  obtained.  The  Greek  mythology,  in  describing  the 
different  punishments  of  men  in  the  lower  world,  represented 
Tantalus  as  standing  up  to  the  chin  in  water,  which  constant- 
ly eludes  his  lip  as  olten  as  he  attempts  to  quench  the  thirst 
that  torments  him.  Over  his  head  grow  all  kinds  of  fruits, 
but,  whenever  he  reaches  forth  his  hands  to  take  them,  the 
wind  scatters  them  to  the  clouds.  The  wicked  hereafter' will 
no  doubt  indulge  in  vivid  imaginations  and  visions  of  all  sorts 
of  pleasant,  delicious  things,  and  will  burn  with  earnest  long- 
ings after  them.  But,  like  Tantalus,  they  will  be  doomed  to 
perpetual,  endless  disappointment.  They  will  be  tormented 
with  fierce,  unsubdued,  raging  desires,  without  being  able  to 
gratify  them  in  the  least  degree. 

Such  a  situation  is  extremely  painful  and  wretched.     The 
experience  of  men  in  this  life  demonstrates  that  scarcely  any 
thing  is  more  tormenting,  than  a  burning  appetite  or  passion, 
without    the  means  and   opportunity  of  gratifying  it,     How 
terrible  are  the  sufferings  of  the  drunkard,  when  deprived  of 
his  usual  stimulus,  and  unable  to  obtain  the  fiery  liquid  which 
he  so  ardently  craves!     How  great  are  the  pangs   of  hunger 
and  thirst,  the  appetite  for  bread  and  waier,  with  no  mea 
of  relief !     Nowr  the  lost  shall  carry  with  them  all    their  evil 
propensities  aud  passions  into  eternity.     Their  appetites  and 
desires  will  rage  with  irrepressible  ardor  and  fury,  and  vet 
the  objects  of  them  will  be  beyond  their   reach,    and   wholly 
unattainable.     Not  a  particle  of  gratification,  not  a  drop  of 
comfort,  not  a  sensation  of  delight,  shall  they   derive  from 
any  source  whatever.     Forever  burning  with  earnest,  feverish, 
unallayed   desires,  they  will  be  tormented  with  them,  and 
unable  to  obtain  thejeast  relief  and  mitigation  of  their  dis- 
tress. 

6.  The  misery  of  the  lost  will  spring  from  despair — the 
hopelessness  of  deliverance  from  their  evil  situation.  If  they 
had  hope  that  their  sufferings  would  one  day  cease,  even 
after  millions  of  ages,  it  would  be  to  them  a  ground  of  en- 
couragement,^ ray  of  light  in  their  darkness,  a  mixture  of 
eomfort  in  their  cup  of  sorrow,  a  mitigation  of  their  woe. 
Bat  Elope  shall  he  to  them  a  stranger.     That  celestial  com- 


forter  shall  never  visit  and  cheer  them  in  their  darlt  and 
dreary  abode.  Hell  will  be  to  its  inmates  the  prison  of  de- 
spair. From  it  there  will  be  no  escape.  Hence  the  dread- 
ful words  which  the  poet  represents  to  be  written  on  its  gate  : 

Through  me  you  pass  into  the  city  of  wo  : 

Throughnne  you  pass  into  eternal  pain  i 

Through  me  among  the  people  lost  for  aye. 

All  hope  abandon,  ye  who  enter  here. 

Dear  reader,  these  things  are  solemn,  momentous,  awful 
realities,  and  I  beseech  you'to  act  in  view  of  them  as  their 
importance  and  dreadful h ess  demand.  Do.  not  regard  them 
as  idle  tales,  but  believe  in  them  as  substantial  verities, 
matters  of  infallible  truth  and  certainty,  because  revealed  to 
us  by  God  himself.  Let  the  knowledge  and  fear  of  these 
future  and  eternal  sufferings  awaken  in  you  a  sense  of  danger, 
lead  you  to  repentance,  induce  you  to  fly  at  once  for  refuge 
and  safety  to  Christ  and  to  observe  all  things  which  he  has 
commanded.  The  only  way  to  escape  this  dreadful  misery 
and  enter  into  life,  is,  by  conformity  to  the  Gospel.  This 
includes  acts  of  repentance,  faith, 'and  prayer,  the  love  and 
fear  of  God,  and  submission  to  his  will,  justice  and  mercy,  humi- 
lity, meekness,  temperance,  patience,  and  the  practice  of 
christian  virtue  generally.  Eeligion  reveals  a  method  of 
justification.  It  is  also  designed  to  renew  and  purify  the- 
heart,  remould  the  character,  regulate  and  sanctify  the 
conduct,  that,  by  a  timely  preperation,  we  may  be  accounted 
worthy  to  escape  all  those  evils  that  shall  come  to  pass,  and 
to  stand  before  the  Son  of  man.  We  are  to  have  faith  in  the 
testimonies  of  God's  word  concerning  invisible  and  eternal 
things,  and  be  controlled  by  it  in  our  actions.  As  Noah,  by 
faith  in  a  coming  deluge,  built  the  ark  and  escaped  the  flood, 
while  the  rest  of  mankind  were  overwhelmed  and  destroyed, 
so  we  are  to  spend  this  life  in  preparation  for  the  day  of 
judgment,  that  we  may  be  delivered  from  the  endless  sorrows 
of  the  wicked,  and  share  in  the  everlasting  joys  of  the 
righteous. 


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